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What started as a huge interest in evolving and emerging technologies and design in the context of healthcare, has shifted to a journey of which my biggest interest is social design, with a playful and inclusive approach. While my previous projects were in the context of healthcare and inclusive design, I realized the enjoyment was especially in the community aspect of designing, and unveiling design decisions by means of collaborative activities and visual thinking.
On this page, I describe what the expertise areas mean to me and which design activities have contributed to their development.
Creativity & Aesthetics
Creativity & Aesthetics
I believe Creativity & Aesthetics is largely the core of who I am as a designer. To achieve innovation, designers must push boundaries, for which creativity is a necessity. Within this expertise, designers have the ability to apply different creative thinking methods, to critically and reflectively come to ideas. Creativity & Aesthetics has shaped my intuition as a designer, by utilizing inquisitiveness as a tool to create iterations, through material, form, and visualizations.
Throughout my Bachelor's, I’ve applied sketching as a tool both to generate inspiration, ideas and knowledge, as well as to communicate concepts to other people, especially with the courses From Idea to Design, Exploratory Sketching, and Project 1. Making these sketches tangible with material or paper prototypes adds a new dimension to the ideation process, which I’ve learned during Aesthetics of Interaction and Digital Craftsmanship. Furthermore, visualizing concepts adds context, which makes it easier to convey information that is difficult to comprehend on its own. I have developed a knack for information visualization by developing in Adobe Illustrator and Indesign, with Design for Debate, my board year at s.v.i.d. Lucid and committees.
Exploratory Sketching
Final Bachelor Project
Aesthetics of Interaction
Digital Craftsmanship
Technology & Realization
Technology & Realization
Technology & Realization is what makes a design tangible and communicative at an interdisciplinary level. By being able to work with different machines and techniques, designers unlock the ability to rapidly communicate ideas physically. It allows designers to transform a design into a high-fidelity prototype, by utilizing sensors and actuators, as well as the appropriate hardware and software. Furthermore, making interactive systems tangible makes it more accessible to validate and discard different elements of a design for next iterations.
At the beginning of my Bachelor’s, Technology & Realization proved the most difficult to get started with, as my perfectionist nature would not allow me to create anything unless it comes out exactly how it was intended. With From Idea to Design, Creative Electronics, and Project 1, the prototypes which I’d worked on would effectively communicate the concept. Over the years, I’ve learned to let this perfectionism go, as I now believe creating prototypes is also a way of exploring, creating higher-quality iterations, and communicating, and has a strong connection with Creativity & Aesthetics. I have gained confidence within the expertise area by 3D printing and modeling, using the sewing machine, laser cutting, soldering, and woodworking. These skills were especially learned with the course Digital Craftsmanship and my Final Bachelor Project.
Creative Electronics
FBP - Preliminary circuit
FBP - Laser cut box
FBP - Painting and assembling
User & Society
User & Society
As an upcoming social designer, it is important to be aware of the context and people I am designing for, as well as its cultural relevance. Designers must have an empathetic and open mindset in order to gather insights and opinions from stakeholders, while applying knowledge from a psychological and social perspective. I believe User & Society also entails awareness of your own bias as a designer, highlighting the importance of active user involvement. This ensures that all perspectives are taken into account and a design is shaped and validated towards what the user wants.
My design and research projects have introduced me to the importance of user testing. In particular Project 3, in which users were actively involved by means of co-creation sessions. Next to user testing, the courses Socio-cultural Sensitivity and Intercultural Design have taught me how to approach designing for a specific culture from an immersive perspective, by providing tools that allowed me to position myself within their context. These include Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions and awareness of setting up an interview approach appropriately. Human Factors and User-centered Design provided insights on the psychology that come into play when designing and why certain elements of a design work in accordance with human nature. Furthermore, Design for Debate went beyond viewing users as humans, and explored the nonhuman facets of design, while creating awareness on the unintentional effects a design can have on society.
Project 3 - Older adults design tool
FBP - User test
Design for Debate - Expertise areas as personas
Math, Data & Computing
Math, Data & Computing
From a design perspective, Math, Data & Computing gives structure to complex and chaotic concepts. It plays an important role in validation and communication, by combining creativity with logic and attaching measurable values to findings. This can take the shape of, for example, data visualizations, which makes it easier for designers to identify patterns within gathered data.
The course Data Analytics explored how to gather data and taught me how to visualize it accordingly, by utilizing different graphs and charts depending on the context of the data. Making Sense of Sensors touches upon this by directly gathering data from sensors. Moreover, Digital Craftsmanship explores how data can play an important role in the narrative of a design, by prominently weaving relevant data into the concept, while Designing Connected Experiences taught me how to let two systems communicate with each other by means of data and OOCSI.
Digital Craftsmanship - Data Exploration
FBP - Heat map
Designing Connected Experiences - Data system 1
Data Analytics - Linear model visualization
Business & Entrepreneurship
Business & Entrepreneurship
Designs must ultimately be viable to be used by people. Business & Entrepreneurship reveals methods that validate concepts from a business perspective, including models, trends, and sustainability. Designers must be aware of the economic context of a design, as well as its business networks and channels. I also view Business & Entrepreneurship as a tool to validate and analyze a concept’s feasibility throughout the design process.
Introduction to Business Design and Design Innovation Methods provided different models and frameworks to analyze the viability and relevance of a concept from a business perspective. Getting to know these models was useful in gaining an eye for strategically designing for users’ needs and revealing opportunities to better align with users.
DIM - Duolingo MVP experiment canvas
DIM - Project 1 customer journey
FBP - MoSCoW prioritization
Design Research Processes
Design Research Processes
I attach value to the research process of a design, as it sets the foundation and acts as a stable factor throughout the design process. Throughout my Bachelor’s, I learned how to get to the core of a problem, by means of analyses and visual thinking. Furthermore, starting with the course Design <> Research, I’ve gained an appreciation for research through design, as I believe probes stimulate creativity and unlock a more profound understanding.
Design <> Research - Digital gift-giving probe
FBP - Interaction probe
FBP - Getting to the core
Professional Skills
Professional Skills
Throughout my studies, I’ve grown professionally in the context of group projects. Within a design team, I’ve increasingly been taking the role of prioritizing and making decisions, while stimulating active reflection. I’ve especially developed myself professionally through extracurricular activities at s.v.i.d. Lucid. My role as secretary during my board year taught me how to plan and organize while taking into account different audiences, as well as communication and collaboration. I also learned how to take the lead in accordance with these assets with ID Symposium. Additionally, I’ve joined several committees, such as ID Connect, in which I learned how to work together in a team outside of a design context, as well as creating promotional material.
Board Picture - (Bolluijt, 2022)
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